Low rates push Europe's companies into riskier investments

London

EUROPEAN firms squeezed by low interest rates are having to consider new, riskier ways to manage trillions in corporate cash as they are snubbed by banks awash in new regulation that may also spell the demise of their go-to investment funds.

In order to protect and grow their companies' money and ensure it is easily accessible to pay wages, invoices and dividends, treasurers are being forced to look at less secure assets and deal with some of them directly. "There is a tectonic shift in the cash management landscape," said Alastair Sewell, a managing director at Fitch rating agency. "One option is to take on more risk."